Guardian
by Avatardragontrainer
Summary: Max's Father (Xaioshin) hires a Mountain Lion fighter named Shanshi to kidnap Max from the Bushido-Akios' but gets a little more than he expected when Shanshi double crosses him and rescues Max from Xaioshin. For AniUniverse2005 I hope you enjoy.
1. For Hire

Guardian

I do not own Kung Fu Panda; if I did I wouldn't be doing this

Max and the Bushido-Akio's belong to AU2005

* * *

><p>For hire<p>

(Shanshi means Mountain Lion in Chinese…I think)

Shanshi or Shan stood up from his defeated opponent a gorilla at least twice his size and let out victory cry throwing his arms up. He was the number three fighter in Southern China, he was skilled enough to make it to first or second but liked where he was right now and there was no one who could or would challenge him.

Being a Mountain Lion didn't hurt either, his distinctive roar scared off a good amount of challengers on its own.

Shan left the ring and went back over his girlfriend Siena who had been watching from the sidelines as he fought.

Siena was a Tiger but Shan wasn't totally sure what species she was exactly.

Shan took his shirt from Siena and headed to the changing room making a mental note to ask her what species tiger she was one of these days.

He changed quickly and rejoined Siena outside the ring and they left the building and headed home.

"You did really good today." Siena commented as they walked. "I thought that Gorilla had you a couple times."

"So did I actually." Shan replied.

"I'll meet you back at the apartment okay?" he said "I've got an errand I need to do quickly."

"Okay, but don't be late alright." Siena said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Shan ran off, it was their one year anniversary, he wanted to buy her something; the problem was he didn't have a ton of money, he may be a good fighter but that didn't necessarily translate into cash.

He went from shop to shop growing more and more disappointed until he decided to head home, as he walked a white tiger stepped out of an alleyway in front of him.

Shan automatically went into a relaxed fighting stance, the tiger chuckled.

"Something funny?" Shan demanded not changing his stance.

"I have a proposition for you, I need you're fighting skills." Xaioshin said.

Backroom deals like this weren't uncommon in south china but this was the first Shan had been approached with one.

"What do you want?" Shan asked relaxing a little.

"My son Maximus was kidnapped and I want you to find him and bring him to me." Xaioshin said.

"Why not just ask the Jade Palace or someone?" Shan asked.

"Don't worry about that." Xaioshin said tossing a sack of money at Shan's feet. "That's 5000 Yuan; I'll give you another five when you bring me Maximus."

That totaled to an amount of 10,000 Yuan!

Shan looked at the sack of money at his feet, it was incredibly tempting and money was a bit short right now.

He reached down and picked up the sack.

"I'll do it." Shan said and Xaioshin smiled "I thought you might." He said. "Maximus is in the Valley of Peach with the Bushido-Akios." He added then disappeared.

Shan returned to the apartment and was nearly tackled to the floor by Siena.

"Where have you been, I've been worried sick!" she said.

"Uh…nowhere." Shan lied. "I got us some money though." He added showing her the money.

"Shan…? Where did you get this much money?" she asked eyeing the money suspiciously.

"I….took a job, it was a down payment, I'll get rest upon delivery." Shan said standing up.

"What kind of job exactly?" Siena questioned.

"Nothing dangerous, I just gotta find this kid named Maximus and bring him to his father." Shan said.

"Well okay, as long as it isn't dangerous." Siena said.

"This coming from the female champion." Shan said and she smacked him on the shoulder…hard.

"Ow…" Shan said rubbing his shoulder. "I'll get buy us some supplies, we'll leave tomorrow." He said.

* * *

><p>Kind of a shortish chapter for me but whatever.<p>

It's worth mentioning Shanshi has no clue who Xaioshin is or what he plans to with Max, what do you think?

Have Max or the Bushido-Akio's weight in


	2. Abduction

Abduction

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

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><p>**Two or three days later**<p>

Shan and Siena walked into the village Shan had been scouting it out for the last few days before they entered.

He discovered why Xaioshin had hired him the Village and surrounding Valley was protected by the Kung Fu Warriors of the Jade Palace, kidnapping Max would be difficult at best.

"According to our 'client' Max is being held at the Bushido-Akio's." Shan said to Siena.

"There's usually a wolf with him." He added. "So grabbing him in broad daylight would be a bad idea, the next option is to grab him at home, at night when he's asleep." Shan said.

"But again it's risky." Shan said. "So I don't know."

Siena nodded in agreement

They spent the rest of the day walking around the Village and Shan decided he could live here it was peaceful.

He and Siena split up and he decided to go to the noodle shop to get something to eat.

He walked in and sat down at a table, across the restaurant he saw two white tigers' and recognized them as Dai Nakamura and Kiro Takimuro warriors of the Jade Palace and suddenly got really nervous.

"I'll just have some dumplings." Shan said to Mr. Ping when he asked what he wanted.

About half way through his meal Kiro came over.

"You're new to the Valley?" Kiro asked.

"How could you tell?" Shan asked.

"Everyone who lives here orders the noodles." Kiro said

"My friend and I are just passing through." Shan said.

"Where are you heading?" Dai asked also walking over.

"I'm not sure just yet." Shan answered.

"Where are you from?" Dai asked.

"Southern China, I was a fighter." Shan said growing slightly irritated by all the questions.

Both Dai and Kiro found Shan's behavior a bit strange but not enough to start asking him more questions and left him alone.

That night dressed in dark but not black clothing Shan snuck up to the House Max was being held in, He'd left Siena behind for back up, if anything went wrong he'd roar and she'd come running.

Shan snuck through the house already growing suspicious of Xaioshin's kidnapping claim. But he shook the thought from his head when a wolf appeared, he ducked into a room.

For a moment he thought he'd been spotted but the wolf walked off and Shan let out a sigh a relief and came to a door with Max's name on it and pushed it open.

He saw Max lying on the bed, facing away from him.

Shan pulled out a rag covered in chloroform and placed it over Max's face the cub struggled for a moment but passed out quickly.

Shan smiled to himself and threw the cub over his shoulder.

"Put. Him. Down." a voice said from behind him making Shan flinch and turn around to see the wolf standing behind him looking very angry.

"Put my brother down." He said again growling.

Shan growled back and set Max on the bed and faced the wolf.

"Walk away Wolf." Shan said taking a fighting stance.

Arizona growled and lunged at Shan but he underestimated him; Shan spin kicked Arizona in the head knocking him into the wall, into a shelf knocking it down with a loud crash. Shan winced at the noise and jumped out the window with Max, by the time Arizona got to the window Shan was gone.

Shan sprinted to Siena who was nearby. "Did anyone follow me?" he asked running into camp.

"I don't think so…why?" Siena asked.

"That wolf interrupted me." Shan said looking back. "I was sure he'd follow me, but maybe not."

"Come on, the sooner we get out of this Valley the better." Shan said adjusting Max's position on his shoulder.

**With Arizona**

Arizona growled in frustration.

"You sure you didn't get a good look at the kidnapper?" Mako asked.

"I don't know." Arizona said holding his head. "He looked like a cat of some kind, he was wearing dark clothing, he didn't leave a note or anything he just showed up and took Max." Arizona said.

That made Mako fearful for Max and made him think it might have been one of Max's birth parents.

"I'll alert the Jade Palace, they'll find him." He said.

"No, this is something I want to do myself." Arizona said. "I'm gonna tear this kidnapper apart."  
>He growled.<p>

**Back with Shan and Siena**

Max shifted and woke up to find his hands and feet tied and a gag in his mouth. He looked around and saw an orange and black tigress sitting nearby and let out a muffled cry and tried to back away but only fell over.

The tigress saw this and walked over to him unsure of her intentions Max let out another muffled cry and tried to back away from her tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you, my name is Siena." Siena said and Max calmed down a little as she pulled the gag off.

"Take me home please." Max said.

"Sorry kid." Shan said stepping into the firelight.

"Xaioshin is paying us a huge amount to bring you back to him." Shan said.

"My…Dad…No! You can't!" Max said fearfully. "He'll….."

"What's wrong?" Siena asked.

"I…I can't." Max said looking down.

"It's okay you don't have to tell us." Siena said.

"No, he doesn't." Shan said putting the gag back and Siena glared at him.

"What? How do we know this kid isn't lying to get away?" Shan said and Max mumbled something behind the gag.

"It doesn't matter anyway in two days he'll be Xaioshin's problem not ours." Shan said, at the mention of Xaioshin Max let out a sob.

That night Shan had his first doubts about taking Max to Xaioshin, he seemed genuinely afraid of him. What could have happened to Max to make him that afraid? He wondered.

Shan shook the thought from his head and rolled over, he saw Max shivering against the tree and sighed picking up a spare blanket and put over the cub.

"I saw that." Siena said when he came back.

"You're having second thoughts aren't you?" She asked. "Something about Xaioshin bothers you."

"What? No." Shan said. "Okay, maybe a little." He said a moment later.

"Then take him back." Siena said.

"No, I want to hear Max's story first." Shan said.

* * *

><p>That's it for that chapter stay tuned for the next one, that's not the last time Shan will fight Arizona either.<p>

You didn't really think I was going to leave Dai out did you?


	3. Making a choice

Making a choice

I do not own Kung Fu Panda at all what so ever.

As Shanshi and Siena listened to Max's story Shan's first reaction was anger, then sorrow when Max finally finished Shan let out a low growl.

"I can't believe anyone would do that to a cub especially their parents." He said. "I'm so sorry Max, I had no idea."

"It's okay." Max said.

*That night*

"You can't seriously still be considering turning Max over to that….monster especially after what Max just told us, just for some money!" Siena said quietly so she wouldn't wake Max.

"I…I don't know." Shan said. "I'm gonna go for a walk, I'll be back by morning." Shan said standing up and leaving.

Shan walked a good distance from the camp and let out a frustrated roar. He had no clue what to do. He had no intention of giving Max to Xaioshin but he needed the money. There were other ways to get money he supposed.

But still 10,000 Yuan! It was a lot but that wouldn't stop his conscience from telling him it was wrong.

"I hope you're not thinking about going back on our deal." Xaioshin said stepping to view.

"Well…I was just thinking that maybe…" Shan was cut off by Xaioshin pinning him to a tree.

"_Do not_ renege on our deal." Xaioshin said threatened holding a dagger to Shan's neck.

"You will bring me Maximus or I'll kill your girlfriend, Max and then you understand?" Xaioshin said.

"Yes." Shan said lowering his head.

"_I'm sorry Max." _He thought. _"I don't have a choice."_

*Morning*

Shan returned to the camp having made his choice and found Siena eating breakfast with Max.

"What are you doing?" he asked walking towards them.

"Having breakfast with Max." Siena said. "He's just so cute!" she said ruffling his hair making him laugh.

"So did you decide what to do?" Siena asked.

"Yes…." Shan said and Xaioshin stepped into the camp.

"This is the choice you've made, I can't believe you!" Siena said pulling Max towards her.

"I'm sorry! I didn't have a choice! He said he'd kill us if I didn't do what he said!" Shan exclaimed.

He went over and pried Max away from Siena ignoring his cries of protests and pushed him towards Xaioshin.

"Don't worry, I'll get you back." He whispered quietly to Max

"I'm glad we could reach an agreement." Xaioshin said tossing Shan the money and then disappeared with Max.

"How could you just let him take Max like that? And after what he told us what Xaioshin did to him?" Siena said.

"Siena calm down." Shan said.

"How can I be calm?! You just handed Max over to that monster." Siena said hitting Shan on the chest. "Who knows what he'll do to him, we have to get him back before…."

"Siena, I'm going to get him back." Shan said interrupting Siena. Not knowing what it was going to cost him in the end. "But Xaioshin needs to think he's won first." Shan said.

*With Max*

"Let me go!" Max yelled struggling against Xaioshin's grip.

"Shut up!" Xaioshin yelled hitting Max across the face making blood come out of him.

"You've been nothing a pain ever since you were born!" he shouted shoving Max to the ground, into the dirt.

"After tonight I won't have to deal with you anymore." Xaioshin said.

Max whimpered silently making Xaioshin even more angry.

"Stop being so weak!" he shouted kicking Max in the ribs making tears run down his face.

"You're a pathetic, worthless, useless waste of fur and I wish you'd never been born!" Xaioshin yelled as he kicked Max.

"Luckily that's not a choice I have to live with." He said and picked Max up by the neck and started to squeeze.

"I'm going to watch the life leave your eyes." He said as Max gasped for air.

*With Shan and Siena*

Shan reached Xaioshin and Max in time to see Xaioshin pick Max up by the neck and even from here He could tell Max was having trouble breathing.

Shan roared and leaped out of the darkness, Xaioshin dodged out of the way at the last second and Shan hit the ground, slid and rushed back at Xaioshin and when he tried to dodge Shan clawed his side.

"Let Max go." He said taking a fighting stance.

"You dare double cross me!" Xaioshin said.

"I dare because when something's wrong it's wrong!" Shan said back. "You can have your blood money back." Shan said tossing the bag at Xaioshin. (Shan actually took a bit out first)

"You'll wish you hadn't betrayed me." Xaioshin said dropping Max and drawing a sword.

Shan swallowed when he saw the sword he couldn't fight against a sword he was mostly a Kung Fu fighter.

Xaioshin swung at Shan with the sword and he dodged left and right making him miss his target, all he had to do was keep Xaioshin busy long enough for Siena to grab Max.

Easy enough right?

He kicked at Xaioshin making him go on the defensive. Xaioshin sliced at Shan cutting his upper arm, it hurt Shan yelled and stumbled back falling over.

Xaioshin advanced on Shan to finish him off, from the ground Shan saw Siena pick Max up and run off. Something must have registered on his face because Xaioshin spun around and ran after her.

Shan got up and chased after him holding his bleeding arm.

He caught up to and tackled Xaioshin to the ground.

"Keep going!" he yelled to Siena as he wrestled with Xaioshin.

He put Xaioshin in a head lock but he elbowed Shan in the face making him let go and back off a little.

Xaioshin kicked him in the head and Shan's world went black.

A tiger roar woke him up and he ran in that direction.

What he saw made him freeze in place.

*With Siena and Max a few minutes earlier*

Siena ran as fast as she could while carrying Max trying to lose Xaioshin.

"Behind you!" Max yelled, Siena spun around and Xaioshin crashed into them making her lose her grip on Max and fall to the ground.

Siena kicked Xaioshin off her and rolled over trying to reach Max but Xaioshin grabbed her tail and pulled her back.

He pinned her under him and growled suggestively placing his hand on her stomach.

Siena hit Xaioshin on the head making him let go, she scrambled to her feet.

Xaioshin sliced at Siena with his sword cut her abdomen and arm, she fell to the ground. Xaioshin advanced on her and pulled her up by the fur on her head.

"Once I'm done with you I'm gonna kill your boyfriend." He said.

Shan reached a small clearing in the trees and his breath caught in his chest. He saw Siena on her knees badly injured by Xaioshin, Max on the ground nearby, unconscious.

He saw Xaioshin stab her with his sword and Siena's body tip over.

"No!" Shan yelled running forward.

He burst into the clearing and attacked Xaioshin, kicking and punching at the white tiger.

"I'm gonna kill you!" he roared knocking Xaioshin's sword out of his hand, Xaioshin punched the side of his face, Shan roared loudly in his face.

Shan threw Xaioshin to the ground where he pulled a knife and sliced Shan's leg deeply. Shan yelled out and Xaioshin kicked the wound making him fall over where Xaioshin pinned him to the ground.

"After I'm done with you I'm gonna enjoy killing Max slowly." Xaioshin said getting ready to stab Shan but he caught Xaioshin's fist in his hand.

"Not…today…." Shan strained, flipping Xaioshin off him and standing up. Shanshi ran up to Max and picked him up and continued running.

Xaioshin picked up the knife and threw it at Shan.

"Look out!" Max yelled.

HA! Cliffhanger!

What's gonna happen next? Will Shan be able to keep Max safe?

Stay tuned.


	4. Saving Maximus

Saving Maximus

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

"Look out!" Max yelled, Shan turned and the knife slammed into his shoulder blade, Shan groaned but kept his hold on Max.

Shanshi ran into a clearing and looked around for place to hide Max and hid him behind a large log saying.

"Stay here and whatever happens do not move." He said then turned back around in time to see Xaioshin enter the clearing his sword still stained with Siena's blood.

Max stayed hidden behind the log and covered his ears from the sound of fighting, finally they stopped and Max peaked over the log and saw Shan on the ground and Xaioshin standing over him.

Xaioshin looked in his direction and walked over to the log and reached over.

"Come here you little brat!" he snarled.

"No, go away!" Max yelled swiping at Xaioshin cutting his hand.

He roared in pain and backed off, then reached in again.

"You'll pay for that!" he yelled grabbing the front on Max's shirt and pulling him out and throwing him across the ground.

Shan opened his eyes and saw Xaioshin pick Max up and throw him against the ground.

"Let him go!" Shan shouted knocking Xaioshin away from Max and following it up with a spin kick.

Shan limped over to Max, picked him up and ran as fast as he could away from Xaioshin.

"THIS ISN'T OVER! I'LL FIND YOU AND THE CUB AND KILL YOU!" They heard him yell.

"Don't listen to him." Shan said to Max as he huddled against Shan's chest sobbing.

"Are going to be okay?" Shan asked when they stopped a short time later.

Max nodded and Shan took it as a good sign.

"What about you?" Max asked. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know." Shan said truthfully.

Watching Xaioshin murder Siena had been hard on him, a part of him wanted to blame Max for it even though he knew it wasn't his fault.

"Try to get some rest okay." Shan said to Max.

Max slipped into an uneasy sleep while Shan stayed up to protect him.

When Max woke up the next morning Shan was gone and he thought for a split second it all been a dream.

"Shan!" He yelled getting up, a moment later Shan appeared and Max ran over to him and leaped into his arms crying.

"What's wrong?" Shan asked.

"I thought it had all been a dream that you hadn't rescued me from my dad, I was on my own." Max said. 

"It's okay, you're safe now." Shan said hugging Max.

"What now, are you going to take me back home?" Max asked.

"Yes." Shan said. "I'll take you home and hope for the best I suppose."

"What about My dad?" Max asked.

For that Shan didn't have an answer, he knew if he fought him again he'd be killed.

"I don't know." Shan said honestly.

*With Arizona, Dai and Kiro earlier*

Arizona suddenly stopped on the path and Dai nearly crashed into him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Quiet." Arizona whispered a second later they heard a roar.

"What was that?" Kiro asked his fur standing on end a little.

"I don't know." Dai answered. "I've never heard a roar like that before."

"It came from this direction." Arizona said turning off the path.

When they got closer they heard a yell.

"No, go away!"

"That sounded like Max." Dai said.

"MAX!" Arizona yelled back and ran off as fast as he could.

Shan heard a rustling sound and woke Max up.

"Come on we need to go." He whispered. "Someone's coming."

Max woke up and Shan picked him and ran off again just as Arizona, Dai and Kiro arrived.

"Max was here." Arizona said sniffing the air. "His scent is still strong, he's close."

"MAX!" he yelled.

Close by Shan heard the shout but kept going; he didn't want to wake Max back up either so he didn't say anything about it.

He waited until they were a good distance away before stopping to rest briefly.

He hurt from his fight with Xaioshin, he was fighting to stay wake so he rested against a tree.

"_It couldn't hurt to take a short nap." _He thought and closed his eyes.

The next thing he knew he was being awoken by Max.

"Wake up!" he said shaking the Mountain lion. 

"What's going on?" Shan asked slowly waking up.

"I couldn't wake you up, I thought you were dead." Max said.

"I'm fine." Shan said "I just need to rest." his eyes starting to close again.

"No, don't!" Max said. "Don't close your eyes again!"

"I'm sorry Max." Shan said. "I…just...need to…rest..."

With that Shan passed out against the tree, Max couldn't tell if he was alive or not.

"Shan! Shan wake up!" He pleaded. "Please, wake back up." he sobbed.

After a moment Max stopped and let out a shaky breath tears running down his face.

What was he going to do now?

Max sat next Shan hugging himself, wiping the tears off his face.

Dai and Arizona wouldn't want him to cry they'd want him to be strong, even Shan had told him not to be afraid.

*Later*

Shan groaned and woke up he still hurt but not as badly. He looked around and saw he wasn't in the forest anymore but in a hospital.

How did he get here anyway the last thing he remembered was telling Max not to be afraid, then passing out.

"_Max!"_ He thought franticly and started to sit up but pain exploded from his shoulder and he fell back down.

A nurse entered a second later having heard Shan yelp in pain.

"How did I get here?" Shan asked. "Where's Max?"

"Relax, you're son is okay, he's in the waiting room, he's quite a boy, if he hadn't gotten help when he did you could have died." She said.

"Alright…wait….my son?" Shan said.

"Yes, that tiger cub is your son isn't he?" the nurse asked. "That's what he told us."

"Um…yeah, sure." Shan said wondering what he was getting himself into now. "Can I see him?"

"Of course, I'll go get him." The nurse said and left.

A minute later she reappeared with Max.

"Hey Max." Shan said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Max replied.

"Can I ask what happened, we found numerous bruises and scratches on Max." The Nurse said.

"It wasn't me, if that's what you're asking." Shan said defensively. "We were attacked."

"We're on our way to the Valley of Peace."

Max was surprised at how easily Shan lied to the nurse.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Shan asked.

"Until you're able to move." The nurse said and Shan sat up gritting his teeth in pain.

"I guess I'm not going anywhere for awhile." He said.

"Why did you lie to her?" Max asked when the nurse left.

"Would you rather I told her the truth that I kidnapped you and am now protecting you from Xaioshin." Shan asked.

"Every good lie has an element of truth to it." Shan said to Max. "We really were attacked and we really are heading to the Valley of Peace."

"We shouldn't stay here for too long, Xaioshin could catch up with us." Shan added.

"But doubt he'll try anything in a public place." Shan said. "So, for right now, rest up."

So that's it for now, will Shan take Max in as a son? Stay tuned to find out later on.


	5. Close Encounters

Close encounters

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

* * *

><p>About a day later Max was walking down a hallway in the hospital; when he saw a white tiger talking to a member of the staff. At first glance he thought it might be Dai or Kiro but the tiger turned and Max saw it was his father.<p>

He panicked and was about to yell when someone grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth and pulled him into an empty room.

Max was scared until the person let go of him and he saw it was Shan.

"Stay quiet." Shan whispered to him and Max nodded his head.

He let go of Max and peaked out the window in the door and saw Xaioshin walking towards them.

"Down." He whispered motioning to Max and pulling out a Kunai Dagger, Max hid under the bed while Shan stayed crouched by the door.

They both heard Xaioshin's footsteps growing closer outside the door, Max whimpered a little and the footsteps stopped at the door.

Shan's breath caught in his chest as the handle began to turn. He grabbed on to it preventing it from opening.

It stopped for a moment and Shan let go thinking Xaioshin had left, then Xaioshin kick the door, it slammed Shan in the face knocking him over backwards, he slammed it shut again on his arm.

Xaioshin yelled and withdrew his arm from the door.

"I know you're in there!" Xaioshin yelled kicking at the door again.

"Max, go out the window!" Shan said holding the door shut.

Max crawled out from under the bed and went over to the window and saw they were on the second floor.

"I can't, we're too high." Max said looking down.

"Jump, you have to!" Shan said throwing his weight at the door.

"If you don't jump, he'll kill you!" Shan said.

Max looked back out the window, then back at Shan.

"Go!" he yelled as Xaioshin slammed against the door, it scared Max and he turned around and lost his balance over backwards falling out of the window.

"Shan!" he yelled, as he fell his claws caught a flag hanging outside the window, he hung there for a second, then fell to the ground landing on his arm with a crack.

As soon as Max disappeared Shan let go of the door and sprinted across the room as the door burst open behind him.

Shan leaped out the window and landed hard on the ground he rolled over and saw Max lying close by for a second he thought he might be dead from the fall. But a moment later Max started moving.

"You okay?" Shan asked.

"My arm hurts." Max said rolling over and sitting up holding his arm.

Shan stood up and saw Xaioshin.

"Come on, we gotta go." Shan said helping Max up.

"Into the crowd." Shan said pointing to a large crowd of people and running towards them.

Xaioshin chased them into the crowd; he stopped and looked around trying to see Shan or Max. He caught a glimpse of goldish brown fur and ran forward and grabbed the person but it wasn't Shan.

He growled and continued walking through the crowd looking for Shan and Max.

Shan paused and looked over his shoulder and saw Xaioshin looking around for him, keeping low Shan headed through the crowd with Max. He glanced back and saw Xaioshin looking directly at them. He started moving towards them shoving people out of the way to get to them.

Shan turned and ran through the crowd pushing people aside earning angry shouts from a few. But he didn't stop and kept running until he tripped on something and fell to the ground.

Xaioshin was on him in an instant kicking him in the chest.

"You can't escape me." He said kicking Shan and stomping on his chest.

Shan yelled out in pain as Xaioshin continued to kick him. Shan clawed his leg deeply, Xaioshin backed off and Shan got to his feet again panting. By the time Xaioshin had recovered Shan had disappeared back into the crowd again.

He snarled in frustration and went after them but Shan and Max had ducked out of the crowd and into an alleyway.

"We'll stay here for a bit." Shan said his breath wheezing.

"Are you okay?" Max asked.

"I've been beat up worse." Shan said. "I'll live, what about you, how are you doing?"

"My arm hurts a lot." Max said cradling his right arm.

"Let me see." Shan said taking a hold of Max's arm, making him wince in pain.

"I bet its broken." he said examining Max's arm.

"I told you, you couldn't escape me." Shan turned around and saw Xaioshin at the other end of the alley cutting off their escape.

"Come on seriously!?" Shan said. "Can't you just leave us alone?"

"You owe me!" Xaioshin said pointing at Max.

"If you think I'm gonna give you Max, you're insane." Shan said reaching behind him for his concealed Kunai Dagger.

Shan threw it so fast even Max (Who's standing kind of next to Shan) missed it, the next thing he knew Xaioshin howled in pain as the dagger buried itself in Xaioshin's hip and he dropped to the ground.

"Through here." Shan said breaking open a door to their right and going through the building and out a different exit.

"I think we lost him." Shan said after a reaching the edge of the town. "At least for now anyway."

"How's your arm?" He asked Max.

"It hurts." Max said.

"We'll stop soon to rest and I'll bandage your arm." Shan said.

* * *

><p>That's the last we'll see of Xaioshin, at least for awhile anyway. But don't expect things to easier for Max and Shan just yet.<p> 


	6. Fault

Fault

Shan lets his and anger frustration toward Max get the better of him

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

* * *

><p>Three hours after the hospital:<p>

"There, that'll have to hold for now." Shan said finishing wrapping Max's arm as tightly as he could.

"Try not to move it around too much until we can get a proper splint on it."

"Okay." Max said.

* * *

><p>-Later the same day-<p>

As they walked Shan looked over at Max, totally unsure of what to do with him. His first instinct was to drop him off at an Orphanage somewhere. He didn't think he could take care of a child.

But would he be safe at an Orphanage? Somehow he doubted it.

Shan's temper was on edge because of their close encounter with Xaioshin at the hospital. The recent rainstorm hadn't helped by drenching them to the bone, to make things even better there was another one on the horizon.

Max was shivering a little, Shan wondered if he might have a cold.

"This is all your fault!" Shan said suddenly to Max.

"W..What?" Max said.

"This is your entire fault, if I'd never have met you Sienna would still be alive and I wouldn't be getting chased by a crazed murderer, psychopath!" Shan said.

"I should have let Xaioshin take you." He said. "I wish I'd never saved you!"

"But..." Max said.

"Get out of here! You're useless, all you've done is slow me down!" Shan shouted.

"You...you really...want me gone?" Max said tearing up. "I...I thought that..."

"You thought wrong!" Shan shouted.

Max froze in place looking Shan fearfully.

"I SAID GET OUTTA HERE!" Shan yelled raising his fist to strike Max.

Max stumbled over backwards falling into the mud, tears now running down his face, memories of his father flooding through him.

"_Oh no." _Shan thought as he realized what he'd just done and lowered his fist.

"Max...I'm..." He started to say.

"Go away!" Max said flinching backwards as Shan tried to approach him.

"I didn't mean to..." Shan tried to say but Max got up and ran off crying.

Shan stood there for a moment, then turned and walked away.

"_Good riddance, I didn't want to babysit that cub anymore anyway." _He thought as he walked.

The wind picked up and he shivered a little pulling his cloak tightly around him and his thought's briefly turned to Max.

"_Hope he's okay, he's afraid of storms."_

"_I don't care about him."_ he thought. _"He's made my life nothing but miserable."_

A crack of thunder sounded as another storm front moved in.

Shan found a place to take shelter and sat down but he couldn't shake the feeling he'd abandoned Max.

"_What if Xaioshin finds him?"_ He thought, then slipped into an uneasy sleep filled with Xaioshin hurting Max.

* * *

><p>-With Max, alone-<p>

Thunder cracked and Max yelled and ran forward terrified by the storm, lightning struck a tree nearby making it fall close to him. Max screamed even louder and slid to a stop in front of the burning tree and ran in the opposite direction.

He finally got to a tree and sank down against the trunk and cried holding his arm. Why didn't anyone want him? Why was everyone abandoning him? What did he do wrong?

Max eventually sobbing himself to sleep. When he woke up the storm had passed and the sun was shining.

What was he supposed to do now?

"Hey kid, what are you doing in our territory?" a wolf said stepping forward with a small pack.

"Go away please." Max said backing up against a tree.

"I don't think so kid." Cairo the leader said. "You're in our territory, you know what we do to trespassers?"

Max whimpered and backed up further.

* * *

><p>Shan woke up around the same time and felt terrible for yelling at Max the way he had. He had try to convince himself during the night that Max wasn't his problem and he should just leave him.<p>

His dreams had been filled with vivid images of the cub being hurt or molested by Xaioshin, eventually he couldn't stand it anymore

"_He doesn't have anyone else." _He thought standing up he went back to where he had shouted at him hoping to find a sign of where the cub had gone. But the rain had destroyed any tracks he could have followed.

"_Great." _ He thought. He thought back to what direction Max had run off in and went that way.

"_Where did you go Max?" he wondered. "I'd never forgive myself if the last thing I said to him was to call him useless."_

"Max!" He called out a moment later he heard wolves howling and barking in excitement.

"_Oh no." _He thought and ran even faster.

Shan burst into the area and saw some wolves had Max backed against a tree, he roared startling them.

"Stay away from my son!" Shan said standing in front of Max.

The wolves seemed eye up Shan trying to decide if they could take him down.

The wolves growled at Shan and he took a fighting stance.

"Don't." Shan warned.

"That little twerp wandered into our territory." Cairo said pointing at Max.

"He didn't know, he's just a child and not from around here." Shan said.

"Fine." Cairo said. "But if enters our territory again..." Cairo drew his finger across his neck and Max whimpered a little.

Shan watched the wolves leave, then turned to Max.

"Max." He said.

"You came back!" Max exclaimed leaping into Shan's arms.

"I'm so sorry." He said getting down to Max's level. "I didn't mean to shout at you like that, I let my anger and my grief get the best of me, it'll never happen again...I promise."

"Can you forgive me?"

To his surprise Max hugged him.

"It's okay." He said. "I forgive you."

"How can you forgive me so easily?" Shan asked surprised.

"It's just not in my nature to hold a grudge." Max said.

Shan laughed a little and let go of Max.

"You called me your son back there." Max said.

"Yeah, well don't read too much into it." Shan said trying to brush it off.

"I think you'd be a great as my dad." Max said nuzzling up to Shan

"You really think so?" Shan asked.

"Yeah." Max said. "You've done a good job of protecting me from my bio dad." Max said.

Shan sat there thinking about that, could he really be Max's dad? He and Sienna had tried to have cubs but didn't have any luck. So Sienna had mentioned adopting a cub instead.

"Hey Max, how'd you like it if I adopted you?" Shan asked after a bit.

"I'm sorry, it's a terrible idea." Shan said when Max remained quiet.

"I'd love you to be my dad." Max said hugging Shan tightly.

Shan stood up and picked Max up, he noticed his bandage was falling off.

"How's your arm?" he asked.

"It still kind of hurts." Max said.

"We'll get some help at the next village." Shan said.

* * *

><p>-Later at a hotel-<p>

Shan groaned in frustration, sweat rolled down his forehead. He and Max were sitting on a bed playing Mahjong. This was ridiculous he was a skilled fighter and he was losing a game of Mahjong to a nine year old cub…again.

"Give up yet?" Max said grinning.

"Yeah, fine I give up." Shan said putting his tiles down.

"I'm more of a Checkers guy anyway." He said getting off the bed "If we played that; I'd kick your butt."

"Oh yeah?" Max teased seeing Shan had his back to him.

"Yeah." Shan said, Max playfully pounced on Shan surprising him.

"Well alright then." Shan said and tackled him back.

The two play fought for awhile until Shan stopped.

"Not bad, you'd be a pretty decent fighter if you wanted." He said flopping down on his bed.

"I wish you were my dad." Max said.

"Have I told you about my family?" Shan asked Max who shook his head.

"I'll tell you then." Shan said.

* * *

><p>Sorry, you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out about Shan's family. I didn't really want to post a super long chapter and that's not the only time we'll see Cairo either, he'll be back later on.<p> 


	7. Unhappy

Unhappy

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

Max's fear of Xaioshin starts getting the better of him…or does it?

* * *

><p>"Well honestly there's not much to tell, I had a pretty typical childhood." Shan said. "I grew up in southeast China, My Mom and Dad were both good parents, they loved me a lot, nothing really unusual."<p>

"It's not until I enrolled in a Kung Fu School that things got tense, my parents didn't want me to do it, they thought it was too dangerous, My dad got really angry at me, I think that's the only time he ever yelled at me."

"But when I started to show real talent for fighting they changed their attitude, they wanted me to join a Kung Fu Palace like the Jade Palace but that's not what I wanted to do I want to become a fighter and make money."

"My dad and I had a huge argument and I left, I didn't see them again until about six months later."

Shan stopped when he saw Max tearing up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." Max said.

"You know you can tell me." Shan said.

"It's just...I haven't been feeling loved lately." Max said.

"What do you mean, aren't you happy with the Bushido-Akio's?" Shan asked.

"I am, but Arizona doesn't seem to have time for me anymore with Sierra, Dai has his missions he goes on all the time with the other Masters, it feels like they're all ignoring me." Max said tearing up again and sobbing a bit.

"I'm sorry Max." Shan said. "I promise I won't ignore you."

"Thanks, Shan." Max said.

"I think you can call me Dad if you want." Shan said.

"Okay." Max said. "Dad."

It made Shan happy to hear Max thought of him as his Dad. But what was he going to do? Max may not be happy with Bushido-Akio's, that didn't mean he could just take him…or did it?

"Max, are you sure about this?" Shan asked. "Dai or Arizona wouldn't willingly abandon you would they?"

* * *

><p>*With Dai, Kiro and Arizona*<p>

Dai slammed against a tree as Xaioshin slammed him back. Dai dropped to the ground groaning.

"That hurt." He commented, rolling over and standing up.

"You're never going to rescue Max." Xaioshin stated.

"Not if we have anything to say about it." Arizona said from behind Xaioshin, who turned around growling.

"Uh oh." Arizona said.

"Thanks, guys." Dai groaned. "What took you so long?"

"Oh you know, stuff." Kiro said twirling his staffs.

"Show off." Dai muttered under his breath and joined the fray, ducking under a punch from Xaioshin and swung his sword at him.

But Xaioshin backup and Dai missed earning him a punch to the side of the head, dropping him to the ground.

* * *

><p>-Back with Max and Shan-<p>

Max moaned and rolled over in his sleep.

"I'm coming for you, Maximus."

Max suddenly awoke with a yell looking around the room.

"Max, what's wrong?" Shan asked entering the room.

"Xaioshin was here." Max said. "I heard him; he said he was coming for me."

"There's no one here, it's just us." Shan said. "You just had a bad dream."

"No." Max insisted. "He was here, I know it."

"Max there's no one else….." Shan trailed off as he saw open window.

"Max did you leave your window open?" He asked and Max shook his head.

Shan went over to the window and looked out, he saw nothing but darkness.

"There's no one out there." He said to Max trying to reassure him and closed the window and locking it.

"You don't believe me?" Max said.

"I do, you want me to stay here for the night?" Shan asked him.

Max seemed to think about it for a moment.

"No I think you were right it, was just a dream." He said.

"Alright, I'm just down the hall if you change your mind." Shan said.

Max laid back down and eventually fell back asleep and dreamed about living with Shan as his son, it was really nice until…Max woke up because he felt pressure on his neck and woke to Xaioshin crouched over him an evil look in his eyes, choking him.

This time he screamed, loudly.

"DAD!"

A moment later Shan burst into the room.

"Max are you okay?" He asked seeing Max covered in sweat and panting.

"He's here!" Max exclaimed.

Shan looked around at the empty room. "Max, there's no one here it's just us." He said.

"No! My dad was here, he tried to choke me while I was sleeping!" Max insisted.

"He tried to choke you?" Shan said approaching Max to check and sure enough Max's neck was red.

"Okay, I believe you now." Shan said seeing the marks on Max's neck. Shan went over to the window and saw it was still locked and closed.

"Okay that's a little strange." He said. "I'll stay with you for the night just to be safe." Shan said.

"Okay." Max said.

Shan stayed up with Max all night waiting for something to happen, but nothing did, Max was able to sleep peacefully through the night.

"How'd you sleep?" Shan asked when he woke up.

"Fine." Max said and saw Shan looked really tired.

"You stayed up all night didn't you?" Max said.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure you were safe." Shan said.

"Thanks." Max said.

"No problem." Shan said.

"Stay here I'll go get some breakfast." Shan said and left the room as Shan left though he saw a note pinned to the door that made him stop.

"I'm coming for you."

-Xaioshin

* * *

><p>Dun dun dun dramatic ending! There's the end of that chapter. Stay tuned for the next.<p>

I'm also thinking of making a part two of Guardian called (Maybe) 'Tiger Tears' let me know what you think.


	8. Out of Options

Out of options

I don't own Kung Fu Panda

* * *

><p>Shan went back into the room with the note.<p>

"What's that?" Max asked seeing the note. "Is it from my dad?"

Shan didn't want to bother Max with it and tossed it away

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Shan said. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast."

They went to a nearby noodle shop and Shan ordered some dumplings for them.

"Dumplings for breakfast?" Max commented.

"The breakfast of champions." Shan taking one.

"You think I could meet your family?" Max asked as they ate.

"It's kind of in the opposite direction that we're going." Shan said. "I suppose it couldn't hurt, I'm sure they'd be happy to meet you."

Movement in the corner of Shan's eye caught his attention; he turned to see what it was. Nothing seemed strange to him so he turned back to his meal, He felt cold steal against the back his neck and froze.

"You look like you've got some money; give it to me and no one gets hurt."

"It's okay Max." Shan said seeing his worried expression.

"I said, give me your damn money!" the robber yelled when Shan didn't move.

"Ah you swore!" Max said covering his ears.

Shan elbowed the would be robber in the face making him stumble backward. He stood up and the robber charged at him with the knife, Shan simply twisted out of the way and grabbed his arm as he went by and flipped him over onto the table destroying it.

"Come on Max let's go." Shan said looking at the robber now out cold.

"Sorry about the mess." Shan said tossing the owner a few coins and they left.

-About a day or two later-

Shan was leaning against a tree, going through his money.

"Well, we're officially out of the cash I stole from Xaioshin." Shan said tossing the empty sack aside. "That leaves us with a grand total of…." Shan said digging in his pockets. "53 Yuan…" He said sounding disappointed.

"What are we going to do?" Max asked.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure we'll figure something out." Shan said putting a hand on Max's shoulder.

"I'm hungry." Max said.

"I know you are; I'm hungry too." Shan said.

"Maybe we can scrape up some cash at the next village." Shan said standing up.

"How?" Max asked.

"Don't worry about it." Shan replied lifting Max onto his shoulders making him laugh.

On the way to the village Shan came up with a plan and they stopped just outside the village when Shan saw a wanted poster with him on it.

"This is going to be a problem." He said taking the poster down.

"What is it?" Max asked.

"It's a wanted poster, with me on it." Shan said. "I've been branded a criminal by the Dragon Warrior and Jade Palace." He said anger creeping into his voice; he crumpled up the poster and threw it away.

"This is just perfect!" he said angrily and Max looked at him worriedly.

Shan saw this and calmed down.

"I'm not mad at you." he said assuring. "This is going to be a problem though; we'll have to disguise ourselves when we go into a village."

Shan looked up and saw a Dragon soaring above them.

"There's no way that's a good thing." He said.

* * *

><p>-With the Heroes-<p>

Dai paced the ground impatiently, rubbing the side of his head where Xaioshin had hit him. They'd been searching for Max for nearly a week and so far hadn't found anything, so Dai had decided to call for some reinforcements in the form of Max's Dragon friend Blaze.

"_What's taking so long? I thought that Dragon was supposed to be fast."_ He thought.

Dai heard Blaze land behind him and turned around.

"Finally!" he said. "I'm glad you're here, we use your help Blaze, Max was kidnapped by a Mountain Lion about a week ago. So far we've not been able to find them and we don't know his intentions."

"When I get my claws on that Lion I'm gonna…" Blaze said but Dai cut him off.

"No! I want him alive!" He said. "I've got a few questions I want to ask him."

"Scout ahead and see if you can find anything." Dai ordered. "Let us know if you find anything by roaring, trust me we'll hear it."

"Right." Blaze said and took off again.

"You sure it's a good idea bringing Blaze into this?" Tigress said.

"I'm sure." Dai said.

* * *

><p>-Back with Shan and Max-<p>

Shan waited until the Dragon was out of sight and reappeared from his hiding place with Max. Now dressed in a hooded cloak.

"Alright it's clear." Shan said looking at the sky.

"_A Dragon, now I've seen everything."_ Shan thought. _"I'm gonna have to find a way to take him down."_

"If that dragon becomes a problem I'm gonna kill him." Shan said.

That made Max nervous because his friend Blaze was a Dragon and Shan wanted to kill this one.

"What if he's friendly?" Max asked casually.

"What makes you think it's friendly?" Shan asked.

"I…um…" Max said trying to backtrack.

"Max, do you know that Dragon?" Shan asked.

"His name is Blaze; He's a friend of mine." Max said after a moment.

Shan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Is he dangerous?" he asked simply.

"No, he's friendly." Max said.

"Alright." Shan said putting the hood up on his cloak. "I'll figure something out."

Once in the village Shan checked out the wanted ads for a way to make some quick money, there weren't a lot of options. At least none he wanted to take Max with on.

"Max, how good of a fighter are you?" Shan asked out of curiosity.

"I'm okay." Max asked. "Arizona was teaching me, why?"

"No reason, maybe we could try stealing some food or something." Shan said.

"I don't want to steal, it's wrong." Max said.

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Shan said. "We barely have enough money to buy food, I can buy a little with what I've got on me, but it'll only last a few days maybe more if we're careful."

In the end Shan bought some supplies with the money he had and they left the village but he was still concerned about what to do about Blaze flying around above them, he was beginning to wonder if he should kill the Dragon before he could give their position away.

"Hey Max." Shan said when they stopped for a break.

"Yeah?" Max asked.

"Why don't you show me what you know about fighting?"

"Um, okay." Max asked standing up and going through a series of fighting moves that honestly impressed Shan.

"Not bad but you're stance is a little off." Shan said getting up and going over to Max and giving him a small shove, knocking him over. He helped him up and corrected Max's stance and gave him a push again this time Max only stumbled a little.

"See? With a better stance you're harder to knock off balance." Shan said.

"Now, hit me." Shan said holding out his hand.

"H…hit you?" Max said unsure.

"Yes, hit me I want to see how strong you are." Shan explained.

"O…okay." Max said getting ready to hit Shan.

Max hit Shan's palm as hard as he could, at the same time an arrow flew out of nowhere grazing Max's head, he spun to the ground.

"Max!" Shan yelled.

* * *

><p>Don't worry he's fine, I hope you don't mind I threw Blaze in there, I thought it would be a good idea.<p>

-Also dual update for today...hopefully so stay tuned.


	9. Scars

Scars

I don't own Kung Fu Panda

* * *

><p>"Show yourself you coward!" Shan yelled.<p>

Another arrow flew towards him and Shan barrel rolled to avoid it. The arrow embedded itself into a tree trunk behind him making Shan growl.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he yelled back scanning the tree line for any movement. Who was shooting at him, what did they want?

Shan remembered the wanted poster from earlier offering 20,000 Yuan for his capture. Shan growled in frustration as an arrow flew towards him again and he flipped into the air to avoid it. He caught a bit of movement and rushed forward dodging an arrow as he did.

"_Their aim is getting better." _Shan thought, he squinted as another arrow flew at him and deflected it with his palm and redirected it back at the shooter. He was rewarded a moment later with a yell and the sound of a body falling out of the tree.

Shan grinned and rushed forward and saw a masked feline lying on the ground an arrow sticking out of his chest; He didn't look like a normal criminal.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Shan demanded grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling off his mask. The attacker died a moment later without saying anything leaving Shan even more frustrated than before.

He saw the attacker's weapon, a crossbow, sitting nearby and picked it up along with the arrows and went back to Max.

"Max?" He said rolling the cub over.

"My head hurts." Max said, for some reason Shan thought that comment was funny and laughed.

"I'm glad you're okay." He said. "But we should bandage that and clean you up just to be safe." Shan said.

They walked for about a half hour before coming across a big stream.

"You feel like going for a swim?" Shan asked.

"Yeah." Max said starting to get undressed.

"Wait…what are you…?" Max said when Shan grabbed his shoulder.

Before Max could finish Shan tossed him into the water.

"Hey! No fair, I wasn't ready!" Max said.

Shan only laughed at him from the shore, then jumped in himself.

The water was nice and refreshing Shan used it to wash the grime off from the last bunch of days.

After a moment Shan noticed Max had disappeared.

"Max?" he said turning on the spot. "Max?"

Fearing he might have drowned Shan got ready to dive under the water to find him when Max attacked him from behind jumping out of the water scaring the life out of him in the process.

"Jeez! Don't do that! You scared the crap out of me!" Shan said a bit too harshly, he backtracked a second later.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Shan said.

"It's okay." Max said jumping off Shan's back, back into the water.

"Where'd you learn something like that anyway, hiding under the water?" Shan asked.

"Dai taught me." Max said. "I can also do it while breathing through a reed."

"That's pretty clever, that might come in handy someday." Shan commented.

As they got dressed Shan noticed the scars on Max's body and felt a pain of guilt knowing at least a couple of them were his fault, particularly the marks on Max's neck from when Xaioshin tried to choke him in his sleep and the scar from the arrow earlier.

"I'm sorry." He said and Max looked at him.

"I don't think I ever apologized for what I did." Shan said. "Those scars are my fault."

"I've been a horrible Dad so far."

"None of that is your fault." Max said.

"I know but still, I feel really bad about it." Shan said. "I feel like there's more I could have done to prevent it."

"It's okay, I forgive you." Max said.

"I know you do." Shan said with a small smile.

"How's your arm?" Shan asked.

"It's getting better." Max said moving it around.

"It's a good thing you're young, you'll heal faster." Shan said.

"We're gonna have to get a change of clothing at the next village." Shan said looking at his shirt.

The problem was the only village nearby Shan didn't really want to go to because it was popular with slavers he didn't want to expose Max to that if he could help it.

"What's wrong?" Max asked seeing Shan worried expression.

"Nothing, it's fine." Shan said. "It's just the area we're going to is really dangerous, maybe we should just avoid it all together, but it'll add at least three days to our trip."

"Do we have to go there?" Max asked.

"No, but it's the closest place we can resupply." Shan said.

* * *

><p>Kind of a shortish chapter but there it is. Stay tuned for the next<p> 


End file.
